Sermons

Know what priests talk about when we get together? You! When it's just us clergy, we talk about you.

I'm sorry to say there are some priests who complain about their people. Not me. I brag about my congregation. I talk about the kids in my church...I talk about our service work through the Canteen and the CHOW pantry...I talk about Sundays...I talk about the fun we have at my church...I talk about the kids...I talk about how we have made our building more attractive...I talk about the laughs...I talk about the kids.

I remember talking to a priest friend at a clergy conference. I told her how I love to give communion, especially to the young kids. I talked about their little hands reaching out for the bread. She talked about how they might have paint, sparkles or stickers on their hands when they come to the communion rail after church school. And we both agreed, it's all about the hands.

It's all about the hands.

Being a priest starts with the hands. The bishop lays hands on your head when you get ordained. It's a privilege to be a priest, and I realize that especially when I think about hands.

I love your hands at the altar rail as you hold them out to be given the bread of Christ. I love the handshakes and hugs I get after church. I find it so meaningful to lay hands on people when praying for healing. I love to hold a baby in my hands at baptism. When I officiate at a wedding, I get to see the heart of it all up close. The heart of a wedding is not what the minister says or does. The heart of a wedding is when the couple speaks that solemn vow while holding hands.

It's all about the hands.

So then I come to this story about Jesus and Peter walking on the water. It's an impressive miracle, but that's not the part that grabs me. I don't know what to do with the walking on water. It doesn't really have a big impact on my everyday life.

I mean, I'm a serious walker, yes. I love walking and get my exercise that way. I like what a Buddhist teacher said: "The miracle is not to walk on water...the miracle is to walk on the green earth in the present moment." So it's not the walking on water that gets me in this story.

Instead, it's all about the hands.

That's what gets me...the hands. Peter -- good old impulsive, messed-up Peter -- jumps out of the boat and starts walking on the water toward Jesus.

But he panics, as I sometimes do. He gets in over his head, as I sometimes do. He starts to sink, as I sometimes do. And he calls out for help.

Then...it's all about the hands.

The text says, "Jesus reached out his hand and caught him." That's the moment in the story that gets me.

It's all about the hands.

We all get in over our heads sometimes. We all need a helping hand. We all need a friend. "What a friend we have in Jesus," we sing, and it's true. The image of Jesus taking us by the hand is powerful -- in the Bible, in hymns and songs, and in our prayers.

It's all about the hands.

Psychologists have done lots of weird experiments to figure out what makes people tick. A whole lot of experiments have proven that companionship makes a huge difference for the better. People under pressure are much less stressed when they have someone to share it with. For example, people who are given electric shocks have a much smaller reaction if they are holding a friend's hand during the ordeal. Which tells me to steer clear of psychologists wanting to do experiments.

But it also confirms what I'm saying.

It's all about the hands.

It's all about helping hands. The wonderful Jewish writer Isaac Bashevis Singer wrote, "I only pray when I am in trouble. But I am in trouble all the time, so I pray all the time." Maybe the most basic prayer is just one word. And Peter used that word when he started sinking, when he was in over his head. The word is "Help!"

Read through the Psalms in the Bible, and you will lose count of how many of the prayers can be summed up with that simple word, "Help!" Sometimes you need a hand.

In my experience, God's helping hand is usually the hand of a person right near by. Sometimes you just need a hand.

And sometimes you can give a hand. You can be God's helping hand any time. It's a real privilege, and it's not just for priests.